


One Day in New York

by a_sallieri



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Romance, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23754445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_sallieri/pseuds/a_sallieri
Summary: Just a summer day with Eliot, Margo, and Q.And then a little surprise.
Relationships: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	One Day in New York

I wake up and I don’t really want to get out of bed. The air is hot and smells of pancakes. El knocks on my door: 

\- Hey, Q, it’s almost noon. Wake up, sleeping beauty. Josh made breakfast.

Ihide under the blanket and pretend that I don’t hear him.

El opens the door and sits down on my bed. I know that he won’t leave, so I climb out of the blanket house and sit up next to him.

\- Morning, Coldwater.

I can hear a smile in his voice. He ruffles my hair. 

\- Come on, we are going out today.

He gives me a glass of water and meds and looks at me softly. I gulp it and go to take a shower. 

When I get out, El’s not in the room, but there is a plate with fruits and pancakes and bacon and a note in El’s flying handwriting: 

“Eat the food. Will be back soon. 

E & M”

I do and then spend the day playing cards with Josh, light-heartedly arguing with Penny, and fooling around with Kady. 

We go out outside, Josh is making barbecue and we playing with water guns. It’s hot and humid, so we quickly get back inside. 

El and Margo come back around five, and we leave for New York. We rarely get out of Brakebills, being busy and all, and I’m excited for doing something fun for a change. 

We get to El’s place in New York. I’ve been here once or twice, but I like it a lot. It’s spacious and light and very much Eliot. Everything is extra, but nothing feels extra, everything in place: different chairs from various places and times, the bar counter going across the room, the weirdly shaped bookcases, all of it fits in flawlessly. 

For a second I feel like I’m just a part of this absurdist furniture set, weirdly shaped, not matching any other piece, but still belonging to this world. 

Margo sits across from me, El making us drinks. The world for a second becomes very clear, everything is the way it should be. They talk about ballet and books and charms and I dissolve into the conversation, feeling warm and fuzzy and happy. 

El’s cooking something - cuts meat into small pieces, crushes lemon and garlic. Margo and I are helping - I’m sipping my drink, Margo lazily tossing a salad. 

\- If you were to go to any place on Earth, where would you go, Q? 

Margo looks at me questioningly. 

\- Greece, probably. Korfu. The island of the gods, you know? It’s covered in pink oleander flowers, old churches and surrounded by sea. 

I’ve read Durrell’s trilogy almost as many times as Fillory books and as I tell El and Margo about it, the animals crawling around, the greeks, olives, bitter taste of the coffee with surprising sweetness in the end. I feel the breeze in my face, salty air, smell of pines, and shadows of cypresses. 

\- It’s beautiful and carefree. The scream of seagulls, warm bread from a nearby place in the morning, wine - undeveloped, but light and easy…   
\- You should go, - Margo says.  
\- I can’t go alone, not really.

El looks at me, serious all of a sudden: 

\- You don’t have to do anything alone because you are not alone anymore, Q.

Margo is pouring El some wine and they both look at me smiling. My heart twitches.  
We eat dinner, and it’s divine, and I lazily wonder how one person can be talented in so many things. 

\- To us! To being young and reckless and making it all better, one way or another! 

El raises a glass.

\- To us! 

The dinner is done, and we sit in silence, comfortable with it and each other. 

\- Q, close your eyes.

Eliot’s voice hoarse. I looked out onto the Christopher street, people walking obliviously underneath me, laughing loudly. I shut my eyes. 

\- You can turn around now.

When I do, El is holding a cupcake with a candle burning on top. Margo is standing next to him, holding a gift box. I gulp. I feel tears in the corners of my eyes. I don’t know how they knew - with Beast, and Fairies and Magic and Monster, I never got to tell them. I didn’t know how badly I had needed them to know.  
  
“Happy birthday, Q.”


End file.
